KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning Dec 1, there will be a new train service to commute between Ipoh and here.

The service, which starts as early as 5am, will enable Ipoh residents to come to work in Kuala Lumpur.

"We plan to make Ipoh the next Seremban, where people can work in Kuala Lumpur but still live there.

"Over there everything is cheaper, including property, and people can save a lot of money if they stay in Ipoh, " said KTM Berhad managing director Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Malek after launching the MS 1722 certification for safety management and health at a hotel here yesterday.

"For a start, people will need time to get used to this service and we don't expect a mad rush.

The last train from Kuala Lumpur will leave at 9.45pm and is expected to reach Ipoh by 12.30am.

There will be 10 trips a day, five each starting from Ipoh and KL Sentral.

Razak said the one-way fare will be as low as RM10.

He said KTMB was looking to emulate budget airline AirAsia in offering low fares to encourage more people to travel by rail, since there were no flight services to Ipoh.

The journey time between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur is expected to take not more than three hours.

"We hope to cut the travelling time to two hours and 15 minutes when we get five new sets of trains from South Korea in 2010," he said, adding that the new train sets would cost a total of RM240 million.

Razak also said that KTMB was planning to extend its commuter train services from Rawang to Tanjung Malim in July.